Light fixture



Feb. 25, 1947. MacFADDEN LIGHT FIXTURE Filed July 3', 1945 INVENTOR. GLEN/V E. MncfiqopE/v only with difficulty.

Patented Feb. 25, 1947 LIGHT FIXTURE Glenn E. MacFadden, Westlake, Ohio, assignor to John C. Virden Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application July 3, 1945, Serial No. 603,053

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in electric light fixtures, and, more particularly, to an improvement in the ornamental guard lantern style of light fixture.

The ornamental guard lantern style of fixture is frequently used for porch lights, gate-post lights, recreation room fixtures, and the like, in order that the incandescent electric light may be in keeping with present popular architectural styles. Such ornamental fixtures were generally moderately priced; however, as a result of this invention the manufacturing costs of such prior art fixtures were unnecessarily increased by employing screw clamps, relatively expensive guard cages,- and other elements which are now known to be unnecessary. However, the principal objection to prior guard lantern fixtures was the difficulty encountered when it became necessary to replace a burned-out light bulb or a broken globe or chimney; these fixtures are often placed in inconvenient locations where the disassembling and reassembling operations exceeded the mechanical capabilities of the ordinary householder and required a juggling of fixture parts which often resulted in dropping and breaking of the glass globe. Further, exposure of the fixture to weather frequently caused corrosion of the screw clamp, so that the fixture could be disassembled It is an object and advantage of this invention that a fixture made according to this invention is inexpensive and, though strong and secure when assembled, is readily manufactured and assembled in mass production with a minimum of-- operations. Because the fixture is so simple in construction, it is simply and easily taken apart and reassembled by the user. It is another object of this invention to provide a guard lantern in which the guard is an inexpensive, easily manufactured Wire cage. vention is to provide a light fixture avoiding the use of screws or clamps which become stuck when corroded by exposure to weather. Another advantage of this invention is that it is neat and attractive in appearance, and, in the preferred embodiment, the spot welds and split spring rings of the inexpensive cage are concealed from view.

Still another advantage of this invention is that the guard cage, in addition to its apparent function of protecting the lamp globe or chimney and serving as an ornament also serves as an essential structural element holding the fixture together.

.Further objects and advantages of this inven- A further object of this intion will be apparent from the following specification, claims, and drawings in which:

Fig. l is a vertical section through a fixture made according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is an isometric View of the wire cage illustrated in section in Fig. 1.

In the selected embodiment disclosed in the drawings, the fixture I0 is comprised of a top or hood portion 20 having a flattened apex 2| from which the fixture, in this'instance, i suspended by a suitable ornamental wall bracket I l. The fixture It is secured to the bracket l l by an ornamentally headed bolt I; which passes through an opening in the outstanding arm of the bracket l I, the ornamental spacing washer I 3 and thence through the flattened apex 2| and socket bracket 14 to a half-nut l5. Depending from the socket bracket I4 is the light socket l6 carrying the conventional incandescent light bulb IT, The wiring l8 for the socket i6 is led in through an opening 19 in the shank 23 of the hood 2!). Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the single bolt l2 and nut l 5 hold the fixture l0, supporting bracket H, and socket H3 in an assembly which, for all practical purposes, may be regarded as substantially permanent, since neither the fixture, socket nor bracket are likely to be removed or replaced in normal use. It is to be understood, of course, that the fixture ill may be supported by any other suitable means and the manner of supporting or wiring the socket 16 may be varied as desired without affecting the novel construction of the fixture I0. I

The hood 2B of the fixture I6 is a metal spinning contoured, in this instance, to provide a conical portion 22 depending from the flattened apex 2!, the portions 22 and 2| closing the integral cylindrical shank 23. shank 23 is a lower outwardly flaring skirt por tion 24, the outer edge of which is spun in to pro vide an internally-opening annular groove or recess 25 in which the upper split spring ring 4| of the guard cage 40 is received.

The base 3!! of the fixture Ill is' comprised of anornamentally contoured shank portion 33 having an upper outwardly flaring skirt portion 34, the

Integral with t e 1 I permanently assembled in the base 30.) .cagejill is then compressed adjacent the upper;

pressed until one of the split rings d! he slipped out of a groove or 35. Thebulb H is easily inserted or removed through the open and the lower split spring ring 42, the pair of in round by the groove. the ring is under compression or merely holds its normal set when received in its corresponding groove, the diameter of the'ring must be such that the ring must be compressed (b pressing together the guard wires adjacent the split) in order to remove the ring from the groove.

25 and are exteriorly opening instead of interiorly opening, then the guard wires should be spot-welded to the outside of the ring received in the exteriorly opening groove. An advantage of 5 providing interiorly opening grooves .in which the 10 its corresponding groove when the ring is held Regardless of whether To complete the fixture, a glass globe or chime ney is provided. The globe 59 when shown in the drawings has a cylindrical body portion 5! which may obviously be molded to provide annular corrugations or otherwise contoured to provide simulated lenses or other surface ornamentations. The upper and lower ends of the globe terminate in inset portions to provide upper andlower shoulders 52 and 53 which at least approximately mate with the shoulders provided by the junction of the upper shank 23 and skirt 2:; and the lower shank 33 and skirt 3%, so that the shouldered globe 50 is retained in the fixture by the shoulders provided in the base and hood.

To assemble the fixture H], the wall bracket H, hoodZil, and the wired socket itareassembled on the ornamental bolt 12 and secured by the half-nut I5. to provide the permanent hood assembly. (1f ,the fixture is to be supported from the base 39, the socket and support are obviously The spring ring 41 so that the spring ring may he slipped into the groove 25, whereupon the compression is released so that the cage will be held in. the groove 25 by the force of the compressed spring ring 4!.

ring d2 engages the spun-in edge of the base skirt 36.

The lower split ring 42 is then compressed To disassemble the fixture to permit a broken globe to to be replaced, the cage is simple comorAZ can bottom of the base 313 in the embodiment shown,

though innfodels having a closed base, it is sim- "pie to disassemble and then reassemble the fiX- ture in order to replace a burned-out bulb.

The operations, for manufacturing the fixture it are obviously simple and inexpensive. The

' hood 28 and base 39 may be readily formed from 'sheet'metal'or tubing by spinning or stamping.

The cage it-is assembled and spot-welded together on a jig. In this connection, it is to be noted that, in the preferred embodiment disclosed,'the guard wires 43 are spot-welded to the inside of the split rings 4! and Q2 so that the ,guard wires do not interfere with the reception r of the spring rings 6! and 42 in their respec- I 25 and 35. Obviously, if the fixture is modified'so that one or both of thegrooves tive grooves The globe 5% is placed in the; base 36 so that its lower shoulder 53 rests on the until it can be slipped into the groove 35, locking the assembled fixture.

split rings are received is that the spot-welded junction between the guard wires and the split rings, as well as the split in the rings, is concealed. It should also be noted that an advantage the fixture. It should also be apparent that this fixture is not limited to the use of a shouldered globe; instead of providing a shoulder in the ends of the globe, the shanks of thebase and hood may ,be externally shouldered to receive the ends of a straight-walled cylindrical globe, for example.

From the foregoing, it should be apparent that this invention is not limited to the specific emvaried as desired'within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. A guard lantern fixture comprising a hood, a'n'internally shouldered downwardly extending hollow shank portion on said hood, said shank having an annular groove opening in a radial directionya base, an internally shouldered upwardly extending hollow shank portion on said base, said shank having an annular'groove opening in'a radial direction, a globe engaged between the shouldered portion of the shanks, and a guard cage maintaining said base and hood in spaced relationship comprising upper and lower split spring rings engaged in said grooves, said rings having a thickness greater than the depth of the grooves and having a diameter such that the rings must be stressed to remove them from the grooves, andguard wires connecting the rings, .said guard wires being joined to the rings atthe surface radially opposite the surfaces of the rings engaged in the grooves.

2. In a guard lantern style of electric light fixture, a hood, an outwardly flaring skirt on said hood, theouter edge of said skirt being turned in to provide an inwardly opening annular groove, abase, an outwardly flaring skirt on said base, the outer edge of said skirt being turned in to provide an inwardly opening groove, a'globe having upper and lower annular shoulders, the upper shoulder engaging the hood at the junction of the skirt and the body of the hood and the lower .shoulder engaging the base at the junction of the skirt and the body of the base and a guard.

3 being greater than the diameter or the grooves at the opening thereof, whereby the spring rings mustbe compressed'tobe removed fromthe grooves.

and a base portion, a cylindrical shank on each of said hood and base, each shank comprising an internal shoulder and an annular groove 'opening in aradial. direction, a globe engaging 7 said shoulder, and a wireguard cage for maintaining thehood and base portion in spaced relationship but permitting ready assembling and disassembling of the hood, base, and globe, said cage comprising a split spring ring engaged in said groove but having a thickness-greater than of this fixture is that any corrosion which might tend to hold the rings in their grooves will be I broken when the rings are sprung to disassemble bodii'ne'ntdisclosed but may be modified and spring rings, the diameter of said spring rings,

3. In a guard lantern fixture comprising a hood I GLENN E MACFADDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,044,566 Overbagh et a1 Nov. 18,1912 1,696,244 Lindsay Dec. 25, 1928 

